Congratulations to you if your public library system has received an LSTA grant from the Maryland State Library Agency!
On this page is a general list of things to follow and remember when a public library system is awarded an LSTA grant.
The Grant Liaison - First Point of Contact
Every county library system has an MSLA grant liaison and most (but not all) grants are tracked and administered by the grant liaison. The grant liaison is available to answer questions about your grant including upcoming deadlines, how to complete reports, and reimbursements. You can find a list of county library system grant liaisons here.
Required Grant Reports
Please submit the required interim report, final report, and reimbursements on time. Most LSTA grants (but not all) require the interim report and final report.
The Interim Report, due January 30
The Interim report is a 7-month check-up on the progress of your LSTA grant and is completed on the electronic grants management system. What have you accomplished so far and does the program expect to expend all funds and apply for reimbursement by the July 30 deadline? These are the most important pieces of information.
The Final Report, due July 30
The final report is an essential part of completing your grant administration and is done so via the electronic grants management system (eGMS). A final report should include a narrative summary of the overall completion of the grant process as well as information about Activities, Outputs/Outcomes, and any survey data. If the LSTA grant-funded a product or marketing material of any kind please include it with your final report. Photographs of any aspect of your grant program are also very much appreciated. Much of the time your final report words may be used in our State Program Report which is completed by MSLA by the end of December every year and delivered to IMLS. More information about the final report may be found here.
What If I Have Unexpected Problems With a Grant Program?
Sometimes, grants may have situations that occur that require a re-thinking of the grant in terms of the parameters of the grant which may include but are not limited to budget reallocation, an extension request, or a question about purchasing a single piece of Equipment over $5,000. The bottom line is that you should reach out to the grant liaison as soon as an issue arises so that they can provide support.
Submitting for Reimbursements
All grants have until July 30 to submit for reimbursement on an LSTA grant. This page contains best practices for submitting for reimbursement.
Please spend your entire grant award. Ideally, MSLA would like all grant awards to be reimbursed 100%. If you have a small amount of funds remaining and need ideas on how to spend the money on your grant project please reach out to your library system's grant liaison. If you are unable to spend any funds on the grant award, please reach out to your grant liaison as soon as you can.
